Politics: Tony Blair Speaks Ahead of Labour Leadership Debate on LBC Radio Tonight

by Benson Agoha | Politics

Tony Blair Says: 'People who say their heart is with Jeremy Corbyn - get a transplant!'

Former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. (Credit: via Wiki)

Former Labour Prime Minister, Tony Blair has spoken out on the leadership contests whose pendulum has been swinging between the different contenders.

His comments come just as Iain Dale prepares to host all four contenders later - at 7pm tonight.

Tony Blair, who handed over power to Gordon Brown, is seen as one of Labour's most successful leaders, and today he showed just how much weight his views carry.

It comes as reports say Jeremy Corbyn, who suffered a slight set-back recently in the Dulwich primaries, is back in the lead with a 17-points head-start over his strongest challenger, Andy Burnham.

According to the Internal Business Times, Blair made a rare speech on British politics to the think tank Progress, at which he said he would not want to win on an "old-fashioned leftist platform" and pressed the party to "move on".

"But don't for heaven's sake move back. If we do, then the public won't vote for us – not because our thoughts are too pure, but because our thoughts are out of touch with the world they live in," he argued.

He told them: "We misunderstand the difference between radical leftism, which is often reactionary and radical social democracy." and that "Labour could win another general election but only if the party uses its values as its guide, rather than "our distraction".

Most Dailies in the capital reported Jeremy Corbyn's latest surge (43% based on a YouGov poll) based on a survey, by The Times, which also put Andy Burnham on 26%, Yvette Cooper on 20% and Liz Kendall on 11% on first preference votes.

Bur Blair dismissed the Corbyn-mania, with a withering put-down: "People who say their heart is with Corbyn, get a transplant".

Corbyn is ahead in local party nominations, with 74 backing the socialist against 73 constituency parties picking Burnham, according to the International Business Times.

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* by Benson Agoha (with contributions from IBT, BBC, Metro and HUFFPOST).